opinion
Presidium of Parliament
That is why the AfD should not (yet) be allowed to provide a Vice President of the Bundestag
The youngest AfD candidate who failed in the election for Vice President of the Bundestag: Michael Kaufmann from Thuringia
© Martin Schutt / Picture Alliance
New parliament, old topic: Once again, the AfD is the only parliamentary group that does not have a Vice President of the Bundestag. Unfair? Only superficially. There are good reasons for this – and they are anything but arbitrary.
It has long been a constant topic in the Bundestag, and yes – it is definitely a burden for the highest German parliament. While every other parliamentary group, as is customary, has a deputy for the President of the Bundestag (new in office since Tuesday: Bärbel Bas from the SPD), the AfD is the only parliamentary group that remains outside. That was the case for the past four years, and it is the same now: AfD candidate Michael Kaufmann from Thuringia fell through the election during the constituent session of the new Bundestag.
Unsurprisingly, his party reacted angrily, speaking of exclusion and a lack of understanding of democracy. And has the AfD, after all, regularly elected to the Bundestag, not also right? To be clear: No, it doesn’t! Because their reasoning is purely formal. But that alone is not enough. The party lacks an essential, indeed the decisive prerequisite for assuming such a high function that represents our democracy: respect for and respect for democratic institutions, including the Bundestag itself.
Bundestag Vice: AfD lacks respect for the task
That is anything but trivial. The President (s) of the German Bundestag is not just a mere chair of the assembly: in. But on the contrary. Whoever is the head of parliament is number 2 in the state – ahead of the Chancellor. After all, it is the elected parliament that elects the government and can vote it out again. And whoever wants to represent this high body, even as a deputy: in, must fully commit to the Bundestag and our democracy with all its facilities and institutions. Anyone who does not or cannot do this cannot hold the office of President of the Bundestag or his deputy.
It is precisely this commitment and the necessary respect for this important task that the AfD has always lacked – and did this again during the constituent meeting on Tuesday, when parliamentary group manager Bernd Naumann decided to create the new Bundestag with the Reichstag in 1933 after the Nazis came to power to compare and also several MPs opposed the 3G rule and were therefore not allowed to take a seat in the plenary. But how should a representative of a party that repeatedly disregards the rules of parliament represent that parliament? In their answer, the other parties that feel committed to the Bundestag and democracy agree: not at all. This is also an expression of the defensiveness of a democracy. It must not and must not allow itself to be hollowed out from within by those who trample on its being.
AfD has it in its own hands
Ultimately, it is up to the AfD to change the situation. As soon as it was ready to respectfully recognize the Bundestag, democracy and the institutions of the state, to actively acknowledge them and to behave accordingly, one of its members would be considered for the Bundestag Presidium. But this attitude obviously contradicts the party’s self-image. The Bundestag will withstand this burden. For good reasons, and for the good of democracy.